Oyster truck in Live and Let Die

Railer 505 · February 2008

I was wondering about this... ya know in the scene where the Louisiana State Police were chasing after Kananga... and they have to get around this really slow-moving early 20th-century model truck with "Oysters" written on top, and the sheriff yells at the driver saying "Ya ever think about a drivers license...".

The question is... how could that truck be moving so slow? It's not exactly an oversized construction vehicle carrier... is it just that it has a really worn out engine that doesn't work well anymore?

Hardyboy · February 2008

Have you ever been behind an elderly driver with pop-bottle glasses? You could put some of those guys behind the wheel of Richard Petty's car and they'd still go 20 mph!

Railer 505 · February 2008

as slow as elderly drivers can be i think it was more of an issue with that truck's engine than the driver's mental capacity

Mr Martini · February 2008

After some research I found out the truck used is a 1927 Mack AB (if my research is correct). So if the orginal engine was being used, the engine would be just over 45 years old. Not sure what kind of engines they had in 1927, but they might not have been overly powerfull, not like todays engines anyway. Maybe someone with knowledge of Mack trucks and their history can chime in here.

Railer 505 · February 2008

Sounds about right. My guess is the driver (who was probably alive in 1927 guessing by his age in the movie) probably wanted to hold on to that truck as long as he could without something different even as it worked less and less well. Plus maybe he was carrying a heavy load of oysters in the supposedly 50-hp truck that was carrying too great a load to be able to move faster than it was in the movie

jetsetwilly · February 2008

I think you are coming at this from totally the wrong direction; the issue was not the truck but the decrepit pensioner who was driving it and who had no intention of moving to one side. Even if he was driving a horse and cart, your average driver would move aside when he heard a screeching police car behind him with sirens blazing; but the oyster man stays on his track, blocking the path, refusing to move because he is determined to follow his route without variation. Even Pepper screeching out the window cannot deter this man from his route.

Note that when he passes, Pepper criticises the man's driving skills ("did ya ever think of getting a driver's licence, boy?"), not his vehicle. The reason it is going so slow is because the driver is making it go so slow - as HB has already said, try driving behind your average pensioner for much the same effect.

The joke is underlined when the subsequent car smash blocks the oyster salesman's path, and he honks his horn indignantly; now he's being held up by the bad driving of others, he's angry - it's the Tortoise and the Hare, but with more destruction of property.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the most analysis given to the smallest gag in the history of the series...

Railer 505 · February 2008

Well actually, the Oyster truck does pull to the side to let the police cars pass, though it does slow them down a little.

I also noticed a movie mistakes here; you see that right after the police cars crash the oyster truck pulls up - given the slow speed of the oyster truck it's suffice to say that it got to the crash scene way earlier than it should have (44 seconds elapse between the moment the first police car passes the oyster truck and when the crashing police cars come to rest). Just FIVE SECONDS after that, the oyster truck arrives at the scene (for proof, as you see the sheriff pulling himself out you can here the sputtering engine of the truck). Throughout this entire scene I find no evidence of time cutting anywhere.

barisax · June 2013

Hi- As the owner of the truck in question, I can tell you it is a 1923 Mack truck. It was a real, working oyster truck. As it was built in 1923 the body of the truck very much resembles a horse's carriage. In 1964 this truck was over 40 years old and already had 1,000,000 miles on it- it was featured in a Mack Truck ad. Attached is a link to the ad as well as a picture of what the car looks like today. Unfortunately, the truck was under 8-12 feet of water during Hurricane Katrina. My museum recently acquired it and we are in the process of trying to have it restored. As far as why it was going so slow: while the truck weighs 9,000 lbs and when loaded down with oysters it weighed much more and traveled fairly slow, keep in mind this was just a tongue-in-cheek gag and a part of the script.

Thunderpussy · June 2013

-{ wow, that's really interesting. Hope you have great success in restoring it.
Welcome to AJB. barisax.

barisax · June 2013

Thanks! We are currently approaching a couple of reality TV shows in the States to do car restorations. We still have to pay for the restoration- but if we get on a programme it will be easier to raise the funds.

Thunderpussy wrote:

-{ wow, that's really interesting. Hope you have great success in restoring it.
Welcome to AJB. barisax.

Thunderpussy · June 2013

Good luck, I hope it all comes good for you. -{

Oyster truck in Live and Let Die

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